Twin Lakes

In late August, I dragged the family 90 minutes SW of town to try Twin Lakes. I'd been down earlier in the year and enjoyed myself paddle. We went on a nice Sunday morning and got there at 10 am. There was lots of parking. When we got back from paddling at noon, the day use area was pretty full!

The kayak-o-mat was in use when we got back.

We went west towards the out flowing creek. The water was very clean and there was no wind. There are also no powered boats on the lake, which was nice.

There was still good access to the creek and we went under the power lines to the beaver dam.

It looks like the beavers are back trying to restore the dam.

 

We then paddled back upstream. Things were looking pretty autumnal, colour wise. 

There was a slight westerly breeze that blew us down the lake. We rafted up and had lunch while the wind did the paddling.

There wasn't much for birds. We saw one lone loon and a few ducks. You could hear crows in the trees.

The inflowing creek was very low so we didn't get very far up it.

We did some ducks, however!

Overall, a nice family paddle. This lake is maybe a bit smaller than what I'd prefer if I went by myself. I wouldn't mind trying the lake to the east, but that looks like a long carry!

Jackfish Lake

In mid-August, I drove out to Jackfish Lake and paddled the southern part of the lake. I've never done this part of the lake before. I put in at the county boat launch on the east side of the lake. It looks like they narrowed it this year so only one trailer can use it at a time.

I went early in the morning on a weekday to avoid the boat traffic that this lake often has (as well as to avoid the $20 parking charge after 4:30 on weekdays and all day on weekends). Even so, of the four boats on the lake, two were complete jerks about spacing and wakes (including one right at the launch). That is pretty much always my experience on Jackass... errr... Jackfish Lake.

I went south off the launch and followed the shoreline. It is a 50/50 mix of reeds leading to Aspen forest and lake lots with boats, docks, and floaties.

I did get close passed by a pelican!

I also surprised a loon among the docks. It was very angry to see me.

A bit later I noticed it had an almost grown chick with it (left in the photo below).

The lake was pretty enough and there was just a hint of autumn colour.

There were also a couple of interesting bays to explore. The water was really clean despite it being late in the season.

Overall, this wasn't an okay paddle. Jackfish is a clean, big, and interesting lake. It is also busy and full of very inconsiderate boaters. Better options early are Mayatan Lake, Johnny's Lake, and Spring lake.

Mons Lake

In mid-August, we drove out to Mons Lake, just NE of Smokey Lake (about a 90-minute drive). We launched from the playground on the south shore of the lake. This included a proper boat launch (we dropped the boats right by the lake and parked 25 feet away), a dock, picnic tables, pit toilet and playground. There was also marked swimming area.

The signage for the playground was pretty inadequate and when you are heading in from the west on Township Road 602, it is the first sandy/gravel road on your left after you see the lake through the trees.

 

The lake is about 2km in diameter and maybe 7km around the edge. The wind was from the west so we went clockwise and had a lovely calm paddle up the west side. The water was the colour of ginger ale but was otherwise clean.

There were lots of birds including terns, a bald eagle, loons, grebes, and ducks.

The shoreline is mostly reeds giving way to aspen.

On the north end, there is a swampy area and it looks like you can push through the reed screen into a sloughy area behind it.

There wasn't a lot of wind but the east side of the lake had more wave action (maybe 12-inch troughs).

The colours were also starting to hint at autumn. There were a few boats on the lake after lunch (wife joked "church just be out") towing tubers or fishing.

There is also a launching spot the east side of the lake at a beach. You'd have to carry the boats about 200 feet to the beach but otherwise it looked quite workable.

A nice lake, overall. Nearby Canmore, Island and Long Lake are bit more interesting, I think We also had a look at the small lake to the west of Mons (can't see to find a name) but there was no good access unless you wanted to carry across private land from the NE corner.

Sturgeon River

In early August, water on the Sturgeon River in St Albert was high enough to get a decent paddle in. It has been almost two years since there's been enough volume to make it a worthwhile paddle.

I put in at the boat launch in Riel Recreation Park. This was a so-so launch. The dock let me get in dry footed at least. The ducks on the dock were not phased by my appearance.

I saw a heron grooming itself in a tree on the way down. And I saw an osprey duke it out with a bald eagle above downtown St Albert!.

Floating through St. Albert is always a treat. Lots of pretty vistas and the weather was great.

The boat launch at Mission was a bit of a mess. The low water had really encouraged the swamp to grow in here. You could get a boat through the weeds but it would likely be icky.

I then went further down stream to the Boudreau bridge. This was about a 9km round trip and was lovely. I was the only one on the water except right at the end when I passed another person heading out.

Overall, a fun paddle with lots to see. It was nice to have a paddle within 20 minute of my house! I understand there is a new launch further down stream so I may try that if I get a chance this summer.

Mayatan Lake

On the August long weekend, we popped out to Mayatan Lake. I see google has finally marked the boat launch but, if you need them, fuller directions are in this older post.

We got out at about 9 am, figuring the boat launch would be busy on a long weekend. There were a few cars here and maybe four kayaks on the lake. The parking area was starting to fill up as we left around 11.

This is basically what you get in both basins of Mayatan: clear water, weedy bottom, reeds on the edge immediately giving way to aspen forest. It is a bit swamper in the eastern basin than the western.

The water level was quite low this spring and the channel between the two halves was apparently tricky earlier in the year. The June rain seemed to have sorted that out and we had no problem passing through it.

The bottom is sandy but mostly weed covered. There were lots of fish and one jumped into the sidewall of my wife's kayak (first time I ever saw that happen!).

The day got quite hot as we paddled around the eastern half and had lunch in the boats.

There were a fair few loons and some ducks. There were also two heron (and maybe a many as four--hard to say) who were unhappy we were interrupting their hunting.

The lake smelled better than it has the last couple of times (no septic smell going past the cabins).

Overall, a nice easy paddle. It looks like they are improving the road between Mink Lake and Star Lake, which is good news.

Paddle River Dam

In early August, I drove up Highway 43 to try out the Paddle River Dam. Access is on the west side of the Highway 43 just past the Rochfort trestle bridge. It is well signed.  

Once you get off the pavement, you go about one kilometre then there is a blue sign indicating the boat launch is to the right. Stay on the pavement and voila. There is a big launch with a parking lot up above. The parking lot has pit toilets, picnic tables, and fire pits (no wood, though). There is also a campground here.

The launch is pretty big and steep. I dropped at the bottom and then parked up top.

Access was easy, with a gravelly bottom and a cement boat launch. The water in early August had blue-green algae (looks like it was full of dill weed or fine grass clippings). The water itself was very reddish (I don't know if that is iron-coloured silt or something growing in there).

The reservoir runs NE to SW and is about 4km long and maybe 500m wide. I paddled west along the north shore. This is basically an old rover valley that they dammed and filled so the sides are steep. You could get out anywhere but there was often no where to go once you were on shore.

The good part of this is that the lake is about 50 feet below the level of the surrounding and so there was very little wind. Between the dark water and the calm, the reflections were great.

In terms of wildlife, I saw a doe and fawn and then later three bigger deer.  Also one coyote (not pictured). There were also geese and ducks and grebes.

 

The paddle river flows in at the west end. Most interesting thing here was a tiny frog (not pictured) swimming past my boat.

There was no one on the water for most of the day (it was a Friday). One boat water skiing showed up near the end but it is big lake and that was no big deal.

 

The round trip took me two and half hours but I didn't rush. You can see below how the water level fluctuates.

The dam itself is right by the parking lot and isn't much to see. Just a big pile of aggregate, an overflow spillway on the right, and a small set of pipes set low in the lake in the middle below what looks lie some kind of control building.

Overall, this was a pretty neat paddle and I'd go back, maybe in the autumn when the leaves are changing or in the spring when there would be more waterfowl.